Yearly Archives: 2008

CCCKC is a grassroots organization of tinkerers, hackers, explorers, artists, inventors and technology enthusiasts in the Kansas City area. A relative newcomer to Kansas City’s tech scene, they are trying to unite various technology cliques in KC, while providing a dedicated space for user groups, facilities for working on technology projects and the like.

Right now, it looks like the space they’ll have might be right near state line and Southwest Blvd. CCCKC is looking for affiliate organizations that want to have their user group meetings at the new space. The meeting room space would be reserved for us during our normal meeting time, and although there might be non-KCPUG people at the work benches if they have a project they’re working on, it would probably be a less distracting environment that’s more centrally located and just a mile off the Rainbow exit from I-35.

I’ll probably be at the December meeting, and I’d be more than happy to get opinions from people. Otherwise, I’ll see you in January. Optionally, weigh in with your two cents in the comments after logging in.

CakePHP Application Development is a new book announced by Packt, which is designed as a step-by-step introduction to rapid web development using the CakePHP Framework. Written by Anupom Syam and Ahsanul Bari, the book aims to assist PHP programmers to develop and deploy well-crafted and robust web-based applications with the open source MVC CakePHP framework.

CakePHP is an open source web application framework written in PHP. It uses well-known design patterns and provides a structured framework that enables PHP users to develop robust web applications, without any loss of flexibility. The user can code faster, better, and it makes writing Web 2.0-style applications easier.

The book introduces the user to installing the MVC Framework and building his first application, and follows with looking at each main component of a CakePHP application in detail. The book also teaches how to build Web 2.0 style applications using a case study application.

This book walks the PHP developer through setting up a CakePHP environment, and develops an example application to illustrate all of the techniques the user needs to write a complete, non-trivial application in PHP. The user will also learn about the MVC pattern and coding styles through practical examples.

PHP developers wanting to develop cutting-edge Web 2.0 applications, or see how to write code in a faster, more productive way will find this book useful.

For more details on the book, please visit http://www.packtpub.com/cakephp-application-development/book

In July, I am planning to do a presentation on some ways to time and profile your code. Rather than this being a “what Dan found on Google” talk, what are some of the tools or techniques you use to find the trouble spots in your code?

Add your ideas to the comments and I’ll do what I can to fold them into the presentation.

I was at training this week, and got into a discussion with an ASP developer in the break room. He ended up asking me: “Does anyone really use PHP anymore?” Naturally, I have him a resounding “Of Course!” But, other than some local sites I couldn’t tell him for sure who anymore.

Then today, my inbox had a little gift from Zend. They have provided a list of case studies, including one on Fox Interactive’s IGN sites who have recently rolled out Grand Theft Auto ‘Hood, Super Smash Bros World, and Voodoo Extreme–all of which are using the Zend Framework and PHP 5.

You can read more about it (including the full whitepaper) and other case studies at: http://framework.zend.com/whyzf/casestudies#fox

Who is KC PUG?

We are a long-standing community of PHP Developers in and around the Kansas City Metro area. If you are looking to learn, teach or just network, you have found your local PHP community! Join Us! Find out more on our Members page or just drop by our next meeting.